ATG Quirkies: Secret Medieval Book of Poisons or Cures?

The website BookAddition highlights what they call a “wee oddity” originally appearing in an auction house catalog but recently posted on Twitter.

It’s “a real book dating from the 1600s”, in which someone has cleverly carved out the pages and replaced them with “eleven drawers, each with a small wooden and silver knob and a paper label identifying a plant, and a glass jar clasped into place.” Speculation has it that this redesigned tome could be either a assassin’s arsenal or an apothecary’s case. With an eye toward the macabre, not to mention possible sales, the catalog claims it’s a “A Hollow Book Used As A Secret Poison Cabinet.”

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